Biden and Ryan Quarrel Aggressively in Debate, Offering Contrasts

“These guys bet against America all the time,” Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said of his Republican rivals. Representative Paul D. Ryan, showing fluency in foreign affairs, had rebuttals ready.Credit
James Hill for The New York Times

DANVILLE, Ky. — It was the debate that President Obama and Mitt Romney did not have a week ago.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Representative Paul D. Ryan fiercely quarreled at the vice-presidential debate here on Thursday night, with Mr. Biden using the cutting attack lines against the Republican ticket that Mr. Obama did not and Mr. Ryan delivering a spirited case for conservative policies that Mr. Romney had soft-pedaled.

The 90-minute debate, which unfolded in rapid tempo, offered a spirited airing of the sharp contrasts over the administration’s handling of the terrorist attack in Libya, the pace of the economic recovery at home and the role of government in addressing the nation’s fiscal burdens.

While Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney were not on stage, they were at the center of the conversation as their running mates made certain the evening was squarely focused on defining the men at the top of the ticket. But, under pressure to pass the test, Mr. Ryan displayed a proficiency in areas like foreign policy and kept pace with Mr. Biden, who is 27 years his senior.

It was Mr. Biden who sought to quiet the rising clamor among Democrats that the president was not assertive enough with Mr. Romney at their debate last week in Denver. A day after Mr. Obama conceded he was “too polite,” Mr. Biden showed no hesitation in hectoring, heckling and interrupting his challenger.

Within a single minute, Mr. Biden worked in three attacks on his rivals, referring to Mr. Romney’s opposition to the auto industry bailout, his statement that the foreclosure crisis would have to “run its course” and his comment about “47 percent” of Americans who he said were overreliant on government benefits.

“These guys bet against America all the time,” said Mr. Biden, whose temperature was running close to boil for most of the evening.

Mr. Ryan, who kept his composure for most of the night, suggested that Mr. Romney misspoke when talking about the 47 percent. He added pointedly, “I think the vice president very well knows that sometimes the words don’t come out of your mouth the right way.”

But Mr. Biden retorted sharply: “But I always say what I mean. And so does Romney.”

The two men walked on stage in Newlin Hall on the campus of Centre College and took their seats around a table, rather than standing at lecterns as their counterparts did last week. They repeatedly talked over each other, but Martha Raddatz of ABC News, the moderator, pressed both men at various points to explain themselves better.

At one point, she argued directly with Mr. Biden over misgivings among some in the military about the timing of pulling troops from Afghanistan during the warmer months, when fighting is often heavier. When Mr. Biden disputed that the timing was political, Ms. Raddatz said: “Trust me. There are people who were concerned about pulling out on the fighting season.”

Mr. Ryan offered a point-by-point rebuttal of the vice president, accusing the administration of lacking “credibility” in its international approach to Iran because it sent mixed signals and asserting that the tough sanctions came about only because of the fortitude of Congress, as the administration sought to “water down” the trading restrictions.

He sharply criticized the administration’s handling of the terrorist strike in Libya that killed the American ambassador, saying: “It took the president two weeks to acknowledge that this was a terrorist attack. Look, if we’re hit by terrorists, we’re going to call it what it is, a terrorist attack.”

Mr. Ryan chastised Mr. Obama, questioning why the United States did not have protection for the diplomatic compound. He declared, “This is becoming more troubling by the day.”

But as Mr. Biden reminded Mr. Ryan that he and House Republicans cut the budget for the security, he sought to use the question about the attack in Libya to immediately begin the attack on Mr. Romney’s positioning. He contrasted Mr. Obama’s overall foreign policy record with Mr. Romney’s, ranging from Iraq to the killing of Osama bin Laden.

“The president has led with a steady hand and clear vision; Governor Romney hasn’t,” Mr. Biden said. “The last thing we need is another war.”

Throughout the evening, Mr. Biden made maximum use of the split-screen shots that were judged to have harmed Mr. Obama a week earlier, when he was frequently shown looking down at his lectern as Mr. Romney harshly criticized him. And whenever Mr. Ryan spoke, Mr. Biden claimed his half of the screen as his own, practically winking at the audience at home as he stage-laughed at the assertions Mr. Ryan was making or shook his head in disbelief, grinning broadly.

His interruptions were strategic, intended to raise questions about the Republican ticket. When Mr. Ryan attacked the administration’s stimulus program, Mr. Biden pointed out that Mr. Ryan had sent him a letter, requesting money for his Congressional district in Wisconsin.

As soon as the debate was over, Republicans were trying to liken Mr. Biden’s performance to that of Al Gore against George W. Bush in 2000, when unflattering cutaway camera shots caught him sighing and rolling his eyes impatiently as Mr. Bush spoke.

But while the two campaigns awaited the results of “insta-polls” determining a winner and a loser, the key question would not come as quickly: Whether Mr. Biden did enough to help move the Obama campaign beyond the president’s own listless debate performance a week earlier. At one point Mr. Ryan even made reference to his imperative to do so, telling him, “I know you’re under a lot of duress to make up for lost ground.”

It was the biggest moment of the campaign for Mr. Ryan, who invigorated the Republican base in August when Mr. Romney asked him to join the ticket. But his role as chairman of the House Budget Committee also opened him up to significant criticism from Mr. Biden, particularly when Mr. Ryan promised a bipartisanship that he said Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden had not delivered as promised.

Before the debate, Democrats were curious about whether Mr. Ryan would stand by his approach to Medicare, which has included different versions of a plan to offer people 65 and older an option to use government subsidies to purchase private insurance. He did, and then some, saying his only intention — and Mr. Romney’s — was to ensure the program’s longevity.

“Medicare and Social Security did so much for my own family,” Mr. Ryan said. “We are not going to jeopardize this program, but we have to save it.”

Looking into the camera, Mr. Biden said, “These guys haven’t been big on Medicare from the beginning,” asking the audience bluntly, “Who do you trust on this?” To Mr. Ryan, he said, “You are jeopardizing this program.”

Mr. Ryan accused Mr. Biden and Mr. Obama of using “scare tactics.”

“This is what politicians do when they don’t have a record to run on,” Mr. Ryan said, “try to scare people from voting for you.”

The two men, both Roman Catholic, showed sharp differences on how their faith informed their views on abortion.

Mr. Biden said he accepted the church position that life begins at conception, but added, “I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews,” and that “I do not believe we have the right to tell women that they can’t control their body.”

The issue was potentially thornier for Mr. Ryan, since his opposition to abortion has at times extended to cases of rape and incest, unlike that of his running mate, who makes exceptions for such cases.

“I respect people who don’t agree with me on this, but the policy of a Romney administration will be to oppose abortion with the exceptions of rape, incest and the life of the mother,” Mr. Ryan said.

Jeff Zeleny reported from Danville, Ky., and Jim Rutenberg from New York.

A version of this article appears in print on October 12, 2012, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Biden and Ryan Quarrel Aggressively in Debate, Offering Contrasts. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe